54 



NEST OF A PAPER WASP 



Composition. — Write a description of the hornet's 

 nest. Make a paragraph about the outer covering of 

 the nest, a second paragraph about tlie comb, and a 

 third paragraph about what you find in the comb. 



SUPPLEMENTARY WORK 



Wasp Paper. — Hornets make their nests from wood which 

 they gnaw from weather-beaten trees and buiklings. They 

 chew the wood to a pulp, and spread it out in sheets which dry 



and become paper. If 



,!aiimemii^^^it^^'js^a. 







you see a hornet ahght 

 on a board, watch to see 

 what it does. 



Young Wasps. — The 

 httle cells in the combs 

 of hornets' nests are not 

 filled with honey, but are 

 used to hold baby lior- 

 nets. The larvas that 

 hatch from the mother 

 hornet's eggs are grubs 

 without legs. They hang 

 in the cells head down- 

 ward, being held in by a 

 sticky substance. There 

 they are fed by the old 

 wasps on insects and 

 honey. 

 You may have seen hornets buzzing around your kitchen on 



a hot summer's day. They were probably catching flies for 



food. 



When a larva is fully grown, it spins a white cocoon around 



the sides and over the top of its cell, and passes its pupal state 



Part of Hornet's Nest 



